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New research into fighting malaria

Miriam HallUpdated
Mon 29 Apr 2013, 9:36 AM AEST

Scientists say new research into malaria will help provide new ways to combat the deadly disease. In a study, published today in the journal 'Nature Genetics', an international team of researchers has mapped the genetic makeup more than 800 malaria parasites. The information will be used to understand why some strains are becoming drug resistant. And it's expected the findings will provide a significant first step towards new disease beating strategies.

Transcript

TONY EASTLEY: Scientists say new research into malaria will help provide new ways to combat the deadly disease.

In a study published today in the journal Nature Genetics, an international team of researchers has mapped the genetic makeup of more than 800 malaria parasites.

With more, here's Miriam Hall.

MIRIAM HALL: Malaria is one of the world's biggest killers and affects hundreds of millions of people every year. While early diagnosis and medicines have reduced the death rate, drug-resistant strains have also begun emerging in parts of Asia.

Rick Price, professor of global health at the Menzies School of Research says they're mainly in Cambodia, but they're spreading and are a major threat.

RICK PRICE: If this spread continues into Burma and India and then into Africa, then we have potential healthcare catastrophe and all of the gains we've made controlling malaria will be likely to reverse.

MIRIAM HALL: The global strategy to deal with malaria is to use a combination of drugs, including a particularly potent variety called Artemisinin. But some strains are becoming resistant to it.

RICK PRICE: We don't understand how the parasite becomes resistant; we don't know for certain how far it's spread and we're not really sure on the best treatment strategy for containing and terminating the parasites that are resistant.

MIRIAM HALL: Rick Price expects this new research, which outlines the genetic makeup of more than 800 strains of the parasite from Africa and Asia, will be invaluable.

RICK PRICE: If we understand the biological processes by which the parasite becomes resistant, it also informs us to how we can develop new drugs and strategies for containing that. But that's a long process.

MIRIAM HALL: Australia has been officially malaria free for decades. But Rick Price cautions that the disease isn't far away.

RICK PRICE: Australia remains susceptible to reintroduction for malaria, especially in the northern tropical regions where the Anopheles mosquito is found. Very careful attention is taken to mosquito control.

MIRIAM HALL: James McCarthy is a professor of medicine at the Queensland Institute of Medical Research and he's spent years trialling drugs for malaria. He believes Australia must be on the front foot in combating malaria.

JAMES MCCARTHY: malaria to Australia is a really important problem because of our close relationship to our neighbours of Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, and more distantly to Indonesia and other parts of Asia. All the development that goes on in these countries is critically dependent on our ability to control malaria. So we absolutely require to have good drugs to help these populations improve their development.

MIRIAM HALL: He welcomes the new research, saying it will inform drug development.

JAMES MCCARTHY: The real worry is that all the resistance that we're now seeing to drugs like chloroquine which was invented after the Second World War started in places like South East Asia and then spread round the world, so we need to do two things. First thing is to try and control those parasites and get rid of them. And second to develop new drugs that will replace the drugs that are failing.

TONY EASTLEY: James McCarthy, Professor of Medicine at the Queensland Institute of Medical Research.